Reverend Joseph Dunwell Remembered

The statue of Rev. Joseph Dunwell

In the realm of church impact in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), Reverend Joseph Rhodes Dunwell planted a vineyard in the Gold Coast. He was a heavyweight and had the enviable record of being the first Methodist missionary to enter the then Gold Coast.

It is worthy of note that prior to entering the vineyard of the Lord, Reverend Dunwell was a businessman who dealt in tea.

When it became necessary for a missionary to leave behind the comfort, security and one’s kith and kin for an unknown land, he volunteered to be trained.

When it became necessary for a missionary to depart for a continent, which some of his compatriots and others on his continent had wrongly labelled a dark one, the businessman decided to let go of his business prospects.

He took the risky trip of travelling by sea to the Gold Coast and arrived at the shores of Cape Coast and continued dealing in commodities. This time round, the commodities the venerable clergyman dealt in were both spiritual and intellectual. He laid the foundation for the Methodist Church Ghana.

Arrival
Reverend Dunwell was 27 years when he arrived in the Gold Coast on January 1, 1835. He did not live long in the Gold Coast. He succumbed to the change in weather and tropical diseases for which scientific knowledge was almost non-existent and died six months after his arrival.

However, the pioneering role he played benefitted many people, organisations and nations. The premier pulpit of the Methodist Church Ghana is at the Wesley Methodist Cathedral in Cape Coast.

Reverend Dunwell had the honour of having his name embossed on that pulpit. Again, the pioneer clergyman has a couple of churches named after him.

On Sunday, December 19, 2010, Reverend Dunwell was again remembered with the building of a monument in his honour

A human size bronze statue erected on the premises of the Dunwell Memorial Methodist Church at Dichemso in Kumasi was unveiled. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the New Tafo Circuit.

The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, the Most Rev. Professor Emmanuel K. Asante unveiled the statue.

The Administrative Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, Right Rev. Dr Kwaku Asamoah Okyere, Kumasi Diocesan Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, Right Rev. Professor Osei Sarfo Kantanka and the New Tafo Circuit Superintendent Minister, Very Rev. Joshua K.A. Orgen, assisted him.

The significance of the unveiling of the monument is that Reverend Dunwell has joined the ranks of the few clergymen who have been honoured by having a statue erected in their rememberance, in the history of the church in Ghana.

Reward
The church Reverend Dunwell planted in the Gold Coast has yielded many precious fruits. Out of the Methodist Church, educational institutions have been planted among other social interventions.

Wesley Girls’ High School, Mfantsipim School, Prempeh College, among others are some of the first-class second cycle schools the Methodist Church Ghana has established.

There is also the Methodist University College at Dansoman, in Accra and Wesley College of Education, Kumasi.

Schools established by the Methodist Church Ghana have played important roles in Ghana’s socio-economic transformation. Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Secretary-General of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group, which is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, is an alumnus of Mftantsipim School. The seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Atta Annan attended Mfantsipim School.

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Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia was a student of two Methodist institutions. He attended Mfantsipim School and then Wesley College in Kumasi. Former President John Agyekum Kufuor attended Prempeh College, which was co-founded by the Methodist Church Ghana.

The Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Georgina Theodora Wood attended Wesley Girls High School. The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman went to Wesley Girls’ High School. The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Professor Asabere Ameyaw attended Prempeh College.

The Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Duffour and the Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Mr Kwesi Ahwoi both went to Prempeh College. There are numerous Members of Parliament (MP’s), former ministers of State, justices of the courts in Ghana and countless Ghanaian professionals who went to one Methodist institution or another.

All this was made possible due to the pioneering and sacrificial role played by Reverend Joseph Rhodes Dunwell.

He paid a high price by leaving the comfort of his country for the Gold Coast and endured the maximum sacrifice by having his life cut short by disease. However, his efforts have not been in vain.